Method of producing models for dressmakers, tailors, &amp;c.



N0. 63!,205. I Patented Aug. I5,- I899. C. F. EDGAR.

METHOD OF PRODUCING MODELS FOR DRESSMAKERS, TAILORS, 81.12.

(Application flld Oct. 15, 1898.)

(No Model.)

IZZY/anion a: orzzelzvlzzgwr UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CORNELIA FARRIES EDGAR, OF SORANTON, PENNSYLVANIA.

METHOD OF PRODUCING MODELS FOR DRESSMAKERS, TAILORS, 8L0.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 631,205, dated August 15, 1899.

Application filed October 15, 1898. Serial No- 693,6l9. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it mag concern.-

Be it known that I, OORNE IA FARRIES ED- GAR, a citizen of the United States, residing. at Scranton, in the county'of Lackawanna and State of Pennsylvania, have invented new and usefulImprovements in Methods of Producing Models for Dressmakers, Tailors, and Individual Use, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a new and improved method of producing models or facsimiles of the human form for dressmakers, tailors, and-individual use; and it has for this object to provide a method by which a. true and accurate model of the'body may be obtained.

Heretofore it has been the general practice for ladies to be measured and fitted for each dress or garment ordered by them of a dressmaker or modiste. This entails a great loss of time to the customer, since the usual practice requires that there be at least three visits to the modiste and three fittings of the garment in order to insure that neat and artistic finish which is always demanded. Besides the loss of time occasioned by these several visits it is well known that the process of fitting a dress, and especially the garment for the upper portion of the body, is extremely tedious and trying, necessitating the standing in a strained position for a considerable length of time. Various attempts have been made to avoid these objections to the actual measuring and repeated fitting of a garment every time one desires a new dress or garment; but so far as I am aware no satisfactory remedy has been provided prior to my invention.

To the ends stated my invention consists in the novel method of producing models or facsimiles of the human form for dressmakers, tailors, and individual use, as hereinafter more fully set forth, and pointed out in the claims, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, wherein4- I Figure 1 is a perspective view of a portion of the figure of a woman with the hereinafterdescribed waist f tted thereto. Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the waist coated on its exterior. .Fig. 3 isa detail illustrating the two parts composing the coatedwaist separated. Fig. 4 is a longitudinal central section of the position lining.

coated waist supplied with an interior com- Fig. 5 is a view of the resulting model or facsimile of the body of a wearer.

According to my invention a waist 1 is cut and accurately fitted to the person, as shown in Fig. 1, so that there shall be no wrinkles whatever therein and a neat artistic fit of the waist to the person secured. This waist extends at least as far as the hip portion of the body and is made to accurately fit the hips. I prefer to construct the waist in two pieces, as a front and a back part 2 and 3, which are temporarily secured together, as by basting 4, along a line which runs over the shoulders and down the sides underneath the arms to the lower extremity of the waist. The garment, however, may be made of any suitable number of pieces divided upon lines different from that described, it being only essential as to this part of my invention that the waist shall be accurately fitted and temporarilysecured, so

that it may be readily removed from the person. I prefer, also, that the material of which the waist is formed shall be silk muslin, as this may be more readily and easily stripped from the subsequently-formed model, as hereinafter described, than any material of which I am aware. Other suitable material may, however, be employed. The" material of which the waist is formed extends beyond the temporary stitches 4, over the shoulders, and

along thesides beneath the arms to the lower extremity of the waist in free edges or b, in order that the waist may be readily removed, as hereinafter explained. Having so accurately fitted the waist 1 to the form of the person, I coat the same while still upon the person with a thin layer of plastic composition 5, the coating covering the entire exterior surface of the waist, except the free edges,which extend beyond the shoulder and side seams, as before stated. For this coating plaster-ofparis may be employed, though any composition which is plastic in its nature, so that it may be spread over the material of the waist and adhere thereto and which is capable of setting or hardening withina short'interval, may be employed. This coating 5, which sets or becomes hardened while the waistis still upon the person, serves tomaintain the material of which the waist is constructed in precisely the position it has assumed on the body of the wearer after it has been removed therefrom. In other words, it maintains it in its accurate fit of the person. The waist so coated is illustrated in sectional view in Fig. 2 of the accompanying drawings. Asuitable ripping instrument, such as a knife or a pair of scissors, is inserted between the free edges a and b, which project outside of the line of temporary stitches 4, over the shoulders, and along the side underneath the arms, and the said stitches severed. The waist 1, with its applied exterior coating 5, is then removed from the person and by reason of the coating which, as before described, has become set or hardened upon the person maintains precisely that configuration or shape which it had upon the body of the wearer. The two parts of the coated waist, which are shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings, are then again temporarily secured together, as in Fig. 2 of the drawings, when, as will be observed, it presents a firm rigid shell, the interior walls of which conform accurately to the form of the wearer or person to be fitted. This second securing together of the several parts of the waist is readily accomplished by stitching through the edges a Z1, which, as before explained, are free of the coating applied to the exterior of the waist. This shell is now suitably supported in a box or flask 6 and is interiorly lined with a layer of plastic material 7, having the capacity of becoming hard or set. This composition may consist of plaster-of-paris, and I prefer to apply it to the thickness of, say, one inch around the entire interior wall of the shell. This dimension of the layer is suificient to afford permanent stability and preserves the form of the resulting model or facsimile of the person. lVhen the interior layer of composition 7 has become thoroughly set or hardened, the means which temporarily unite the several sections of the waist 1 are again disrupted in the manner before described and the waist stripped from the model thus formed. This stripping is readily effected if the material employed in making the waist is the silk muslin above referred to, as the same will not adhere unreasonably to the composition. If material other than silk muslin be employed it may be oiled on its interior prior to applying the layer of composition thereto, or, if desired, oiled silk or other oiled fabric may be used.

The model resulting from my improved method is an accurate facsimile of the proportions and contour of the person intended to be fitted thereby, and this is so in all details, and since it is hollow, with a wall about one inch thick, it is light of weight and easily portable. It will be obvious also that the model affords the proper waist measurement and hip measurement, so that a skirt may be accurately fitted to the waist and hips and made to hang perfectly solely by fitting upon the model. The length of the skirt can be secured from a knowledge of the height of the waist of the person, of which a record may be kept. Having so prepared an accurate model or facsimile of the person, the necessity of being measured and fitted for each successive dress or garment ordered is obviated, as the modiste or the patron may retain the model and whenever a dress or garment is required the modiste need only supply a garment which accurately and artistically fits the model to satisfy and please the patron. It is apparent also that individuals having an aptitude for making their own garments having provided themselves with a model prepared according to my invention obviously need not employ a modiste, as they can fit the garment to the model without the assistance or cooperation of an attendant, and this is a consideration of great value, for it is well known that it is practicallyimpossible for one to measure and fit a garment to ones own person without an assistant. Quite often one is compelled to employa modiste, who, if she were provided with a model of herself, constructed according to my invention, would herself prepare her apparel.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The method herein described of producing models of the human form, which consists in fitting a waist composed of a plurality of parts, temporarily secured together, to the figure of a person, coating said waist on its exterior with a plastic composition having the capacity of becoming set or hardened, sep arating the waist and the applied coating, removing the same from the person, securing the parts thereof together again, applying an interior lining thereto of material having the capacity of becoming set or hardened and finally stripping the waist and its exterior coating from the latter, substantially as described.

2. The herein-described method of producing models of the human form, which consists in fitting a waist composed of a plurality of parts, temporarily secured together by stitching, to the figure of a person leaving free edges of the waist extending beyond the stitches, coating said waist on its exterior with a plastic composition having the capacity of becoming set or hardened leaving the free edges referred to exposed, separatin g the temporarily-secured waist and removing it with the applied coating from the person, resecuring the parts of said Waist together again, and applying an interior lining thereto of material having the capacity of becoming set or hardened, substantially as described.

3. The herein-described method of producing models of the hu man form, which consist-s in fitting a waist composed of a plurality of parts, temporarily secured together by stitching, to the figure of a person leaving free ro terial having the capacity of becoming set or hardened, and finally stripping the waist and its exterior coating from the latter, substantially as described.

In testimonywhereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing wit- I5 nesses.

CORNELIA FARRIES EDGAR.

Witnesses: GEO. W. REA, F. B. KEEFER. 

